Sunday, November 17, 2013

Daniel J. Watts, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards and Phillip Attmore get right to the point in "After Midnight." Photo by Matthew Murphy.

BY TAMARA BECK

FOR most, it’s the movies that have provided all we know of nightclubs.

Headlined by Cab Calloway or Louis Armstrong or Eleanor Powell, Moe, Larry and Curly (“Swing Parade of 1946”), ZaSu Pitts and Joan Blondell (“That Could Be The Night),” Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (too many to list).

And, and or Eddie Murray and Richard Pryor (“Harlem Nights”), films provided an introduction to the exotic glamour of swing, jazz, long gowns, and ballroom dance.

“After Midnight,” at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in an open run, is a celebration of the glory days of Harlem night life, when the Cotton Club and Savoy were part of the cultural landscape of the Harlem Renaissance.

“After Midnight” was conceived by Jack Viertel and originally played two seasons at City Center’s Encores as “Cotton Club Parade.” (See video above) ... More shortly